Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is the main protagonist and the titular character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He's the son of Alphose and Caroline Frankenstein, the brother of Ernest and William Frankenstein, the cousin/husband of Elizabeth Lavenza, the friend of Henry Clerval and the creator of the Monster. While studying about science, Victor attempts to make a new discovery by reanimating a vile creature from the dead. He regrets making his creation and is about to have his life ruined. Description Victor is a tragic character with goals and expectations. Having always been interested in alchemy and philosophy, he attended university where he learns more about his subjects and looked up to his professors. But he soon regretted the subjects he enjoyed when he made the fateful decision to making the monster. Victor faces a dramatic change throughout the novel. In the beginning, he was learning the basics of science and the facts of life, and towards the end, he becomes overwhelmed of his monster and vows to reverse the choice he had made after he made his creation, but his extreme ambition and exhausting journey would become his demise. Victor is compared to Prometheus, a Greek Titan who according to mythology, created mankind by constructing them out of clay and had the Goddess Athena breathe life into them. Prometheus was also sympathetic and caring, as he helped his creations learn the aspects of survivals, such as harvesting, hunting, and building their homes. However, Prometheus had stolen the fire from the Gods as knowledge and the Gods punished him for it. Victor may be like Prometheus, but his results and actions are more tragic. He discovers the facts of creating life itself, and rather than building one from scratch, he instead resurrected the living dead. Like how the Gods punished Prometheus for stealing from them, Victor was punished by the monster (or from God Himself) for not caring for helping his mankind creation and lost all of his loved ones closest to him. Storyline Early Years Victor was born in Naples, Italy, the firstborn child of Alphose Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort. His father was originally a protector to his mother shortly after her father passed away until they both married and travelled across Europe together. Victor was Alphose and Caroline's only child for a few years and they treated him with love and attention. The family settled in Geneva, Switzerland, where Victor was raised. When he was 4-5 years old, a young girl named Elizabeth Lavenza came into his family life. In the original 1818 edition, Elizabeth is Victor's cousin who was taken into the family after the death of her mother. In the 1830 edition, she was discovered by Caroline Beaufort among a group of orphaned children in Italy, and adopts the girl and brings her home. Both Victor and Elizabeth grew up together, and they became close companions. Several years later, Victor's two younger brothers were born; Ernest and then the youngest William. Victor's childhood was normal and blissful. He also had a close friend and schoolmate named Henry Clerval. Growing up, Victor was interested in natural philosophy and alchemy, and enjoyed reading the books written by famous philosophers and alchemists such as Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albert Magnus. Henry also had the same interests as his friend, and they both had something in common. One stormy night, Victor witnesses a bolt of lightning strike a tree near his house. He discovers the destructive power of nature for the first time and takes an interest in electricity. University of Ingolstadt At age 17, Victor prepares to leave home to attend university in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Before he was able to enroll, Elizabeth falls ill with scarlet fever, and Beaufort cares for her. Elizabeth recovers, but Beaufort contracts the illness and before she dies, she hopes that Victor would marry Elizabeth one day. After coping with his mother's passing, Victor has a hard time saying goodbye to his family before he departs to Ingolstadt. At the university, he meets his professors: M. Waldman of chemistry and M. Krempe of natural philosophy. Victor was told by Krempe that his studies on the alchemists were a waste of time, and had a hard time getting along with him. But Victor looked up to Waldman and paid close attention to the professor's chemistry lectures. Afterwards, Victor decide he wanted to study it, too. For the next two years, he becomes focused on his research and ignores his family back home. He also began studying human anatomy and life after death. After all the research he put himself into, Victor is finally convinced he has finally founded the answer to create life. In the privacy of his apartment, Victor starts his project by constructing a humanoid creature made from body parts he had collected from cemeteries and morgues. He completely cuts off any contact with his family and finds himself feeling alone but obsessed. He works so hard that it nearly had a toll on his health. It takes him months to build his project. Bringing the Monster to Life/Tragedies In November, Victor finally completes his "human" and brings it to life. But when he stares at his creation, Victor immediately recoils in disgust and terror. He imagined his human would be beautiful and perfect; but he instead made a giant, 8-feet tall hideous monster. Victor runs from the room and tries to go to bed. But he is troubled by nightmares of where he kisses Elizabeth and then she transforms into the corpse of his dead mother. He wakes up to find the monster standing at the foot of his bed and runs out of the apartment and onto the streets of Ingolstadt. While wandering around aimlessly and avoiding his "haunted" apartment, he runs into Clerval, who has also enrolled at the university and brings him back to his apartment. Victor had become so weak and delirious from all the hard labor he had endured the past few months that he had a nervous breakdown, and was shaken from seeing the hideous creature. He suffers a high fever and spent the next few months recovering while his friend took care of him. When spring arrived, Victor was feeling better, and received a letter from Clerval written to him by Elizabeth from back home. The letter explains several updates that happened while Victor was away, including about a family friend named Justine Moritz moving back into the family's household after losing her mother, since she lived with the Frankenstein's as a child after her own family rejected her. This made him happy and cheerful again and he immediately writes back. Once Victor has recovered, he introduces Clerval to his professors. Despite being praised by them, Victor feels very unsettled whenever he sees anything that is related to natural philosophy, since it reminded him of how he created the monster. Both he and Victor studied foreign languages together, and when the end of their term is near, Victor goes out for a walk with Clerval in the countryside of Germany and he feels calm and comforted by the beauty of nature. He had planned to return home in the fall, but extreme weather made the trip home impossible, and was forced to stay until May. Upon returning to the university, Victor finds a letter from his father with tragic news. His youngest brother William has been murdered, and a devastated Victor makes his way back home as soon as possible. But once he gets there, it was getting dark as a storm appears, and the Geneva gates have been closed. He was forced to spend the night outside in the woods. He comes across the area where his brother's body has been found, and spots the monster lurking near the crime scene. He believes the monster is the one who killed William. The next day, when Victor arrives at his family home, there is even more tragic news; Justine Moritz has been accused of William's murder. The boy's locket was found in her apron pocket and most of the evidence points out against her. Victor tries to proclaim Justine's innocence, but couldn't explain everything himself because no one may believe him and think him insane. Justine was convicted and sentenced to death. Victor and Elizabeth visit her in her prison cell, with the girl saying she had confessed a lie and was ready to meet her fate. She was executed the following morning, and Victor is filled with deep shame that he had indirectly caused the deaths of two innocent loved ones. Meeting his Monster Again Following the terrible tragedies, Victor becomes severely depressed and has thoughts of suicide. The Frankenstein's travel to their vacation home in Belrive, where even the natural beauty of the area doesn't make Victor feel better. Elizabeth had told him that she may be losing her innocence after witnessing the tragedies that had befallen on their family. He cannot reveal the truth to his family about the "true murderer". Victor travels to Chamonix, France, a place he enjoyed visiting as a boy. He is delighted by Chamonix's beauty, and it brings him back good memories. But he felt miserable again when he watched a rainstorm outside of the family cottage while his father and cousin were asleep. He decides to go exploring one bleak morning and climbs up the summit of Montanvert, surrounded by glaciers. He looks out at the view, but his peace was disturbed when he sees a large man running towards him. When he sees it was the Monster, Victor becomes angry and curses the creature. But his creation begs him to hear him out, and Victor does. He listens as the monster narrates how he was always rejected and scaring others because of his terrifying, ugly appearance, and that he tried to be kind and generous to the humans, but had failed. Victor was pleaded by the monster to make him a female companion just like him so he will never be alone. He originally resented that idea, as he feared the two manmade monsters would cause more death and destruction to others, and the monster claims its miserable loneliness was caused by its creator. If Victor does make a female mate, both monsters would flee to South America and disappear from humans forever. Feeling compassionate for it but still having intense hatred towards it, Victor agrees to do it, and the monster would watch his progress. Victor goes to England After meeting the monster again, Victor questions him of his wisdom of making a female monster and fulfilling the monster's request, so he would put the project on hold. He also found out that in order to require more information on the creation, he would have to travel to England for some research. He is still racked with guilt and depression over the deaths of William and Justine, as well as being horrified of the unexpected task he finds himself forcing to do. His father, Alphose Frankenstein, notices his son's stress and convinced him that marrying Elizabeth would put his depression at ease. Victor agrees on that idea, since he loves her as his future wife, not just as his adoptive sister, and is the only source of happiness in his life. When asked by Alphose if he marries immediately to cure the family's sorrow, he refuses and wouldn't marry her until he had created the female companion for the monster. He would use the trip to England as an excuse to place the wedding on delay. Victor arranges for his journey to England in August, which would be about a two-year tour. He would be accompanied by Henry Clerval, since he is wanting to still pursue his studies and Alphose and Elizabeth wanted him to go with him for his friend's safety. Victor is happy that his friend is coming with him, and in Clerval's presence, he would be safe from the monster. He promises Elizabeth they will marry as soon as he returned home. Victor and Henry travel through Germany and Holland on the Rhine before arriving in London in October. They stay in the city throughout the winter, and Victor continues to be miserable. He avoids the townsfolk, unless they may have some information on how to make a second monster. He becomes more impatient in wanting to get the task done. In March, the two friends travel to Scotland, but when they get there, Victor urges his friend to stay behind in a local town. Once the men parted, Victor travels alone to the Orkney Islands where he sets up a laboratory in an abandoned shack and starts work to complete the female creation. He has a hard time progressing, knowing just how grotesque and hideous a female monster would be. One night, while working in the lab, Victor starts thinking what would happen if he brought his second creation to life. He is afraid of the fearsome consequences, such as the female creature not wanting to seclude herself from humans, or she and the monster would produce child he had called "a race of devils". When Victor looks up, he sees the monster smiling at him through the window. In a fear of rage and fear, he destroys the unfinished project by tearing it apart. The monster becomes upset and disappears, while Victor leaves his lab and stays in a room. Hours later, the monster comes back into Victor's room. He angrily scolds his creator for breaking his promise, and tells him "I shall be with you on your wedding night". After the monster leaves, Victor is worried that the monster's sworn vow would mean his own death, and would leave Elizabeth alone as a widow. The following night, he receives a letter from Henry, telling him he is waiting for him in Perth and they would continue their travels in India. Victor cleans up the laboratory and two days later, he takes a boat and rows off the island. He dumps the rest of the female monster's remains in the ocean water and falls asleep in the boat. But when he wakes up, a strong storm occurs and the winds prevent him from going back to shore. He fears that his boat will be blown far out into the Atlantic Ocean and he would die at sea. Before long, the winds change and Victor reaches a shore in Ireland, joyful to be alive. When he lands, the townsfolk create him rudely and he was a suspect of a murder committed the previous night. He is arrested and taken to the local magistrate Mr. Kirkwin. At the magistrate's office, Victor hears the witnesses testify against him, claiming they found the body of a young man washed ashore. They thought he had drowned but they saw he had black marks on his neck, as if he had been strangled. Around the same time, they discovered a boat at sea that resembled a lot of Victor's. Mr. Kirkwin brings Victor with him to see the body. When Victor sees that the body was Henry Clerval, he falls into convulsions and suffers a long illness for two months. During this time and while still delirious, he confesses in his own language that he was the killer and fantasizes the monster coming after him. After he regains some of his health, he saw that he was imprisoned and a nurse and doctor treated him. Mr. Kirkwin became more sympathetic towards Victor as he visits him in his cell, and informs him he has a visitor. Victor feared it was the monster coming after him, but it was his father who arrives. He tells him of the family back home and he came to find him after finding out about Clerval's death. Victor is overjoyed to see his father again and he begins to improve. Two weeks later, Victor is released since the court does not have any evidence against him, and both he and his father make their way back home to Geneva. On the way, they stop in France for Victor to regain most of his strength. Personalities/Appearance Category:Protagonists Category:Male characters Category:Gothic characters Category:Main Characters Who Die At The End Category:Narrators Category:Characters Category:Deceased characters